


Fix You

by VirginiasWolf



Category: Death in Paradise
Genre: 3x01 fixit sort of, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Major Character Undeath, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:09:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29972340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VirginiasWolf/pseuds/VirginiasWolf
Summary: What if Camille could perform the impossible miracle? Being bought back from death is a hard pill for Richard to swallow, but it isn't a bitter one.This is a multi-chapter expansion of the one shot of the same title from my Song Fic drabbles so read that one first to understand this story.
Relationships: Camille Bordey/Richard Poole
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5





	Fix You

Richard wants to believe it is all a joke as the alternative is far too upsetting and illogical. It can’t be a joke though. Sure someone like Doug Anderson would probably delight in telling him that he is now a resurrected murder victim, but Camille would never do that. 

He remembers the moment of his death too. Waking up with just enough time to be aware of what had already happened and then nothing until hours later when he found himself here in the middle of the jungle in torn clothing with a dirty, exhausted Camille Bordey and an animal that looks an awful lot like a wolf.

The one thing that bothers him is that she won’t tell him how he was brought back to life. There’s no ambulance, and no medical staff in the jungle and even if there were, people who have been dead for hours don’t come back to life.

He glances over at Camille and notices something else that bothers him. Her skin is ashy and unhealthy looking and she looks as if she is barely holding herself in a sitting position. The dog, or wolf, or whatever he is also looks tired although not nearly as bad as Camille does.

“Camille, you need a hospital,” he hears himself state with alarm.

She smiles a patient, almost secretly amused smile at him. “I just need to lie down for a while.”

“But you’re…” Richard sputters.

“Going to be perfectly fine after I rest.”

It is a bit unnerving how Camille lies down in the grass, but they’re both already dirty anyway.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” He asks one more time, garnering a glare from the dog who is lying several feet away.

“Stop talking.”

“I’m just concerned about you.”

“Well, just don’t be.”

Richard watches her silently for a moment before looking around the clearing then up at the sky. There is no light pollution and the stars are crystal clear and painted with a prism of stardust. Camille is watching the sky too, he realizes.

“Would you like me to tell you about the stars?”

A weak affirmative nod is the response Richard gets.

The realization quickly dawns that he will have to lie back down in the grass to properly do so. At first this disgusts him, but he quickly brushes this aside. If something probably not short of miraculous hadn’t happened today he wouldn’t even be aware of the beauty of this night.

He isn’t sure exactly how long he spends telling the tales of the stars, but by the time he has finished, Camille has nestled herself into the crook of his neck. She isn’t asleep though, and he still wants answers.

“How did you bring me back from the dead?”

At first a sharp exhaling of breath is her only answer, and then she sighs. “You’re going to have to find out sooner or later, but you aren’t going to like my answer. It is not very scientific, but it is the honest truth. I was born with a gift, which I inherited from Maman.”

“Camille, you can’t…” Richard starts to sputter, feeling anger boiling inside of himself, but when he sees the tears in Camille’s eyes he finds himself changing. Of course she isn’t lying to him. “You can’t go around telling people about a gift like that. They’ll try to use it against you,” he finishes lamely.

“And I have not done so, but if I did I am sure that anyone who wanted to force me to use my ability for evil would find they could not do so. It is...it is not normally something I use to heal others. Most of the time I am only able to heal myself, and I have only raised the dead once before. It was not a human. Humans are very hard to bring back, especially Englishmen.”

“Hey,” Richard starts to falter, “You know, that was kind of rude.”

“I’m sorry, but for the record it was quite hard to bring you back.”

Something knots in Richard’s stomach. Maybe the reason it was so hard for Camille is because the rest of the universe desperately wanted to erase all traces that he had ever existed. He swallows thickly. “Maybe the universe wanted to blot me out.”

Eventhough she still looks exhausted Camille rises up to lean her head on one hand so she can demand eye contact. “Do not say that. You were never meant to die today, and you are not meant to die any other day. I believe it was difficult because life is precious and bringing another human being back from death should only be done out of love due to how traumatic it is. If my intentions with you had not been pure, I would have given up long before I was successful.” After a pause she adds, “I don’t think I would have been strong enough to do so if Angel had not shown up.”

Richard follows her gaze and realizes Angel must be the name of the dog. “The dog?”

“Yes, I needed his magic too.”

“Why does the dog have healing powers?”

“Because he was the first thing I brought back to life. When I was six.”

Richard opens his mouth and then closes it again, unsure of how to proceed. With everything else that has happened he supposes the dog really could be over thirty years old, but then again how many ageless dogs with healing powers would be sitting in a jungle clearing licking their own balls? It doesn’t exactly paint a fantastic image.

Camille correctly interprets his discomfort with the whole situation. “I know it’s a lot to take in. I would be frightened too if I had this sprung upon me, but I believe you deserve honesty about what has happened to your body.”

As he looks over at Camille, who is wearing an expression of complete warmth and affection, a sudden awful feeling hits him. His entire life has been full of cruelty and pain and today he had lost it at the hands of someone he suspects was a stranger pretending to be a woman who had already broken his heart decades earlier. The only reason he hasn’t remained dead is that the one person who has decided he isn’t freakish and unworthy of love has impossible powers. He feels vulnerable and confused. 

He doesn’t even realize that he has begun crying until Camille begins to wipe the tears away with the pads of her thumbs. “Starting tonight, the world is ours. We’re going to experience a new era together and it will be wonderful for both of us.”


End file.
